Final Head and Hair Study

A charcoal drawing from my Heads and Hands class focusing on lighting and rendering hair. Done from a manikin head. She's not the cutest little girl, but that was what I had in front of me....so there you go.

Animal Drawings

Here are a few animal drawings I just finished for my class. They were fun to do and good practice for me. And it will bring some variety to my portfolio! I don't have many animals in it at present.

India

This drawing is from last semester, but I liked it and wanted to post it. :) It is actually from a picture a friend took with me in India a few summers ago...she was a very small elderly lady, and very cute!...she sat in the mush pot while we taught the kids how to play Duck Duck Goose!

Book Spread

My last spread!...actually, in the book, it's the second, but it's the last one for my class! This one came out better than I expected, so I'm pretty happy about it. There are still some things to adjust and then I have to finalize the rest of my sketches for the book and put them all together in a dummy. It's FINALLY coming down to the end...this has been a LONG process, but VERY fun. I'm excited to get it sent out and get started on my next story!

Another Peek at the Book

Here's another part of the book I'm making. This spread (not shown in full) didn't quite turn out the way I expected, but I think it's still ok...maybe...I haven't shown it to anyone else yet to see what they think.

Peeking at the Squirrel

Here's a little "peek" at a section of a spread of the children's book I'm working on. It's slowly coming together and I'm coming down to the final stretch for the semester so I better stop "napping" and pick up the pace!

Expressions

We were practicing facial expressions in my class today so I did a little of my own in my sketchbook while listening to the Wicked soundtrack. Some of the lyrics inspired me...

Fishy

Sometimes you are inspired by the most unlikely and random things in everyday life. This is a result of that experience. I saw the faint shapes of this little fishy on a steamy mirror in the bathroom and he just had to be drawn out! Nothing amazing or ground breaking, but just kind of cute.

Another Lighthouse

Still working on getting used to the medium...but I think I'm starting to get a handle on it. I used a dark blue gesso this time. Same lighthouse from a different view and different setting. I'm liking this one a lot better. Thoughts?

Lighthouse

I'm still in the beginning stages of illustrating my book, but I'm starting to play with color schemes and figuring out the feel I'm looking for. Here's an environment and color study on illustration board, covered with a colored gesso with some tooth, and done in colored pencil. I'm not sure what I think about it yet. I'll have to play with it some more.

Grandma's Portrait

A quick portrait of my grandma, done in charcoal for my heads and hands class.

A Sketch

Something from the sketchbook. Maybe I'll color it...

Business Card Design

I just finished a business card design for a friend. Somehow I've been doing a lot of graphic design projects this summer and very little drawing....which isn't necessarily the best thing. I should spend the rest of the summer drawing so I'm not rusty when I start the new semester! August is going to be a busy month!!

(I took out some information from his contact info, so if you are actually interested in guitar lessons, let me know and I'll pass on the message!)

Painting With Grandma

Recently I had the chance to go painting with my grandma for the first time. Above is the quick painting I did while I was with her. My grandma has produced many beautiful paintings in her life. She used to take classes and go paint landscapes with her friends quite often. She has a beautiful style that, in some strange way, resembles my grandma's gentle, quite, yet strong nature. Sadly, she has not painted in years....many, many years. Just recently my grandpa passed away leaving my grandma feeling lonely after over 50 years of marriage. I can't imagine losing that kind of love and support after having it for so long. During my family's latest visit to see her I brought my paints and some canvases so we could paint together to, hopefully, cheer her up a little and encourage her to start painting again. We went to the park/beach in Idaho and let the scenery inspire us. What a memorable moment for me to paint with my grandma; seeing her at work, asking her questions, observing her techniques, and even sharing some things that I have learned so far in my art career.

I hope my grandma remembers how much she loves painting.
I hope she has been inspired to paint more on her own.
I hope I remember that day forever.
I hope I get to paint with her again.

But I hope, most of all, she felt some happiness that day.

SILA Website is Ready!

So, A LONG time ago I mentioned that I had a drawing accepted to be on the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles' website. Well, it's FINALLY up for all to see! Check it out! SILA Website. I'm pretty impressed with some of the artworks this year. I haven't been that enthusiastic about past years, but I think there are a lot of good ones this year! The deadline for the Illustrator West 47 is coming up and I think I will take my chances again this year and enter one or two things. We'll see how it goes.

Final Figure Painting

My final figure painting for my summer class. I did so many self portraits that I just couldn't paint my face for the last project. So I did everything BUT that. This class went by really fast...but at the same time not fast enough. I learned a lot of techniques and strategies that I will able to use for future painting and drawing. So overall, I found my class a good use of my time! (thankfully)

Figure Painting

One of my more sucessful figure paintings from class....but certainly not the best. Getting the colors right is hard! Nevertheless, I am proud of this one. (sorry for the glare)

Little Flower

I've been taking a life painting class this summer. This my second painting class and the first time I've ever used oil paint! It is a very challenging class, but I am definitely learning alot about color and lighting! Here's a painting I did to practice hands.

Hope

My final illustration for my digital painting class. It was inspired by my favorite song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and has a lot of symbolism in it about having hope. It might be a little difficult to fully understand, but maybe it'll give you something to ponder.

The Red Car

A project focusing on showing action. I need to go back and touch up and adjust a few things...but Finals have to come first!

Brea Art Gallery

Some exciting news came in the mail today! One of my drawings was accepted to hang in the Brea Art Gallery! The show is called Made In California, anyone in California could enter, and my drawing COULD be sold! The show will run from June 1st-June 27th with an opening reception and award ceremony on May 31st. Come and see the show if you get a chance! I will probably send out a reminder when the show starts.

Here's the selected drawing:

Old Figure Study

This is alittle old, but I still like it. This was from my first life studies class I took at Biola. He was such a great model! and I loved working with Charcoal!

Figure Study Sketches

Just some of my sketches from my Life Drawing for Animation class this semester. The focus is on gesture and construction. I've definitely improved since the beginning of the semester but still have a lot of room for improvement.

"Made In California"

The Bubble

I'm entering this in a contest for the Brea Art Gallery (as well as turning it in for an assignment). We'll see how it goes! The theme is "Made in California".

Character Design

Here is my latest project. A little boy dressed as a superhero! It was difficult getting the lighting the way I wanted....I hope it is convincing!

More Apples

I redid most of my apples for my Illustration class....these are much better than what I had.

Still Life

A still life drawing for my Descriptive Drawing class. The quality of this picture is horrible, I apologize, I tried to adjust in Photoshop but that's as good as I could get it, but you get the idea. This is one of those drawings that definitely looks better in real life! I should probably re-shoot the drawing.

Doodle

A cold cricket that's stuck outside and a warm, cozy ant relaxing on his mound of food.

I actually did these awhile ago and saw them in my sketchbook and thought I'd play with them more and maybe do my own little project with them....eventually. Here are the doddles for now.

CSUF Alumni Art Show

I just got back from the Grand Central Art Center to see a great show by some successful CSUF Alumni. What a great show! Somehow it just makes it so much more interesting and exciting to know that at one time these people were exactly where I am now as a student, and now they are doing their dream job and doing it well! It gives me alittle more hope and determination for my own goals and a lot more faith in my school and education. (Not that I didn't have any faith in it before!) So now that I am inspired and motivated, I will happily go work on some homework and dream of what I want to do with my abilities and imagine where I could end up in a few years down this road called life!

Go see the show!

Bear Den (MORE Complete)

OK....this time I REALLY am done! You might not be able to tell any difference, but I sure can! The color is much better and the cool tones against the warm just make me smile whenever I see it. Enjoy it! I really enjoyed making it...AND looking at it! (Which doesn't usually happen)

Self-Portrait

A little project for the Society of Illustrtors meeting tomorrow. A self-portrait as a child. Done on Painter with watercolor! What a fun project!...and something my parents would like as well!

Bear Den (Complete)

I'm pretty much finished with this one and I'm quite pleased with it. I believe that I achieved a sense of depth and mood which was the whole point of this piece...at least for me. I might do a few more touch ups with the color and lighting though.

Bear Den (In Progress)

Obviously I'm not done, but so far, I'm liking the look of it. I think it might be too dark, but according to my professor, it isn't. We'll see when I'm done and see how it prints out I suppose. I'm pretty satisfied with the composition though.

Environment Sketch 2

Another go at the composition for the bear den. I like this better, its not so focused on the entrance of the cave and more on the sitting area, especially with the right lighting.

The Famous Apple

What is it with teachers and apples? I think they are just obsessed. As a child we are to give them apples. Now in college, that's all they have us draw! Sheesh! Anyway, it's still fun! This is my first attempt at using Painter. It is very overwhelming with all the brushes to pick from, but it will just take some time to figure out which I like and don't like.

Here's one with some mood! I promise you, there will be more to come...

Environment Sketch

A sketch for my digital Illustration class. A bear's den. It's an eccentric bear that loves reading, loves to collect old things, and is very unorganized. Obviously I have not shown all that yet. Just getting the environment set first, then I'll add all the "props". Any thoughts so far?

Paper Bag

My first assignment for my Descriptive Drawing class. Just a paper bag...nothing exciting. But I got a bunch of new art supplies that I AM excited about! especially my new drawing pencils....its like drawing with butter! I love it!

Owls

Practicing some owls. Later I will make them more "cartoon-y" and stylized and give them personality, for now I want to just practice drawing them.

Another Caricature

Another caricature of a friend. I think I like this one better than my last. Hopefully if I keep doing them they will just keep getting better!

To Come...

No, I haven't disappeared, just been busy with family affairs. I'm just starting to get back into normal routine, so more posts will be coming as I start to draw more! Here's an OLD drawing from High School years, reminiscent of Escher's Drawing Hands, to hold you till then!

Happy New Year!!